Los Reyes Magos in Spain is a celebration of the Three Wise Men when they came to bring gifts to baby Jesus. This celebration is equivalent to Christmas when all the children receive their gifts! When Markus and I lived in Spain in the early 1990’s the town hall would collect all of the letters from the children with their wish lists. The parents would then go to the town hall, look up their child and return with the wrapped gifts. On the night of January 6th at midnight, there was a big parade and each of the wise men would have a huge carriage (or float) piled high with the gifts. Then they would parade through the town and pass out the gifts!
The 3 Kings are Gaspar, Balthazar and Melichior. In our town of La Rapita, the kings arrive by boat! We brought Anton and Stefan one year to see the kings arrive at midnight! The port was crowded with kids and families yelling and clapping at the arrival. There were fireworks and then they got into their individual carriages to parade around the town and end up at the living major scene where they would personally deliver the gifts to the baby Jesus. It was so fun to see the excitement in the crowd!
Afterwards all the families go home for a midnight snack known as the Roscon de Reyes. The Roscon de Reyes is a sweet brioche like cake with candied fruits on top. Sometimes it is stuffed with whipped cream! The Roscon de Reyes is shaped like a wreath or crown. Hidden inside is a small toy of a baby Jesus or sometimes a dried kidney bean depending on your region. Whoever receives the piece of cake with the toy inside is the lucky one! Sometimes the luck is that you pay for the cake! Or in Mexico, if you get the baby Jesus, then you have to make tamales for the whole family. This tradtion is celebrated in Spain, Mexico and Latin America.
The perfect wine to celebrate 3 Kings day is our Sparkling Albariño, of course! Look how pretty the colors are! You can find recipes for making your own Rosca de Reyes or you can also pick it up (with the toy inside) at a local Mexican Grocery store!
